ASU analyst Dodd could see Wildcats reaching the Final Four

By Adam Green | March 22, 2013 at 7:26 pmUPDATED: March 22, 2013 at 8:01 pm

Arizona State basketball color analyst Kyle Dodd is not particularly fond of the University of Arizona.

But though it pains him to say it, Dodd told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo he believes the Wildcats have the potential to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think they hit the wall a little bit,” Dodd said of why Arizona had some midseason struggles, noting they’ve played a lot of tough games. “I think when they kind of hit the wall a little bit is when people started doubting them.”

But Dodd sees Arizona’s roster, which has quality veterans like Solomon Hill, Mark Lyons and Kevin Parrom along with impressive freshmen big men Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett, as one that could make some noise in the coming weeks.

After Arizona’s 81-64 dismantling of Belmont coupled with 14-seed Harvard knocking off New Mexico, that seems a little more possible than before. In fact, with the way some of the West Region’s top seeds have gone down, Dodd believes Arizona could find itself in the Final Four.

“U of A, in recent years, has had some decent luck as far as draws go,” he said, pointing to 2009 when a 12-seeded Arizona team beat 5-seed Utah in the first round before knocking off 13-seed Cleveland State in the second. “I think it sets up real nicely for them, not to mention if they get past Harvard they’re going to be in L.A., and you know how well the people in Tucson travel.

“That will be virtually like a home game. I know a couple years ago when they played at the (Arrowhead) Pond against Duke, that was like McKale Center.”